Most firms will quote you a price for as-built plans before you’ve ever seen what a professional set should look like.
That’s backwards.
Before hiring any documentation provider, understand what separates reliable as-built drawings from plans that create RFIs and change orders. Includes a professional evaluation checklist.
Across commercial renovation and tenant improvement projects, the same documentation failures appear again and again.
Here are the five most common as-built drawing mistakes — and how to recognize them.
Mistake #1: Incomplete Field Capture
One of the most expensive failures in as-built documentation begins in the field.
Common shortcuts include:
- Skipping above-ceiling conditions
- Avoiding roof access
- Ignoring tight mechanical rooms
- Failing to document concealed structural elements
When areas are skipped, they don’t just disappear — they reappear during construction.
Unexpected ductwork.
Hidden framing conflicts.
Unknown equipment clearances.
Professional documentation starts with a defined capture strategy, not convenience-based scanning.
If a provider cannot clearly explain what areas are included in field documentation, that is a red flag.
Mistake #2: Loose Registration Tolerances
All digital documentation relies on aligning multiple scans together into one unified dataset.
If that alignment — called registration — is loose, geometry may look correct at first glance but be slightly off.
Even small deviations can create:
- Misaligned walls
- Structural framing discrepancies
- MEP coordination conflicts
- Door openings that don’t match reality
When evaluating as-built documentation, ask:
What registration tolerance do you maintain?
A vague answer usually indicates minimal verification standards.
Mistake #3: Extrapolated or “Cleaned-Up” Geometry
This is one of the most common problems in as-built plans.
Corners get squared.
Walls get straightened.
Irregularities get “corrected.”
Curves get simplified.
The drawing looks clean.
But it no longer reflects reality.
As-built documentation is not design intent — it is a record of existing conditions.
If geometry is adjusted for aesthetic clarity instead of modeled from verified data, downstream design teams inherit risk.
Mistake #4: Weak Dimension Strategy
A drawing without a clear dimension framework is incomplete.
We frequently see documentation missing:
- Overall building dimensions
- Structural grid references
- Clear wall thickness callouts
- Control dimensions tied to fixed datums
- Vertical height references
Without consistent dimension standards, teams cannot confidently rely on the documentation.
A professional set should allow an architect or engineer to design directly from it — without guesswork.
Mistake #5: No Defined QA/QC Process
The most overlooked mistake isn’t visible on the sheet — it’s procedural.
Many documentation providers:
- Deliver files without internal review
- Do not validate models against source data
- Skip cross-checks before issuing final sets
Documentation is only as strong as the verification process behind it.
Before hiring anyone, ask:
- How do you validate your drawings?
- Do you compare deliverables back to raw source data?
- Is there a documented quality control review?
If the answer is unclear, the risk is yours.
How to Evaluate As-Built Documentation Before Hiring Anyone
Before approving a proposal, request:
- A real sample sheet from a commercial project
- A description of field capture scope
- Registration tolerance standards
- Dimensioning methodology
- An explanation of QA/QC workflow
If those cannot be clearly provided, you are buying drawings — not documentation.
There is a difference.
Final Thought
Renovation risk rarely begins in the field.
It begins in the documentation.
Understanding how to evaluate as-built plans before you hire a provider can prevent thousands in avoidable construction costs.
And that decision is worth getting right.
Frequently Asked Questions
As-built drawings are the documented record of a building’s existing conditions — including walls, structural elements, mechanical systems, and spatial dimensions — as they were actually constructed, not as originally designed.
Architects, engineers, and contractors use as-built drawings as the baseline for renovation, tenant improvement, and capital planning projects.
Inaccurate or incomplete as-built documentation is one of the leading causes of construction RFIs and change orders on commercial projects.
- To evaluate any as-built documentation provider before hiring, request these five things:
A real sample sheet from a completed commercial project - A clear description of field capture scope (including above-ceiling and concealed areas)
- Registration tolerance standards used to align scan data
- A defined dimensioning methodology
- A written explanation of the QA/QC review process
- A provider who cannot clearly answer those five questions introduces measurable risk to your project.
Inaccurate as-built drawings create a false baseline that design teams rely on throughout the life of a project.
When field conditions do not match documentation, conflicts are discovered during construction — leading to RFIs, field modifications, schedule delays, and change orders that were entirely avoidable.
On commercial renovation and tenant improvement projects, a single documentation failure can cost more than the original documentation contract many times over.